Zipcar Draws the Short Straw

After the Washington D.C. District Department of Transportation announced it would open up the District's car-sharing market by letting companies bid on the parking spaces, bids came in from Hertz, Daimler, and Enterprise. The process means car-sharing company Zipcar could lose 80 percent of its reserved parking spaces in Washington D.C. this fall, according to WJLA-TV.

The bidding had a minimum price of $3,600 per space, according to TBD On Foot, which added that Zipcar has been the only car-sharing service in the District since 2007.

Apparently, equal bids came in from Hertz, Daimler, and Enterprise, so representatives for the companies drew straws for allocation of parking spots.

Zipcar currently rents 84 spaces in the District for $200 each per year. With the draw of straws, Zipcar only received 12 spaces.

A Zipcar manager in D.C. said she was surprised that the city only took into account the price of the bid.

The change, however, only affects less than 10 percent of Zipcar's fleet. Zipcar operates 865 cars in the metro area.

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Storylines that emerged from the 2018 Work Truck Show include the increasing need for on-site productivity, inclusion of active safety systems in trucks, DPF frustrations affecting product decisions, data management, and the growing link between fleet management and company revenue.

Uber and Lyft drivers make far less when factoring vehicle expenses, though the actual numbers are now in dispute. A proper lifecycle cost analysis would’ve helped, and shows the benefit of collaboration with fleet professionals.

Counter bypass is just the beginning. The promise of a “data-driven ecosystem” that connects renters with the rental agency, retail services, and even the city is a better managed fleet, an improved user experience, and new revenue opportunities during the rental itself.